Sociobiology Puppet Show
by Miranda Hawkins

 

This was an assignment for my AP Bio class that I took my Junior year in high school. It was kind fun to write and even more fun to actually set up. Plus, it's informational! :)

 

CHARACTERS

BOY

GIRL

RUSTY (a dog)

MR. BUNNY (from the future)

BOY: Hi boys and girls! Today were going to explore the wonderful world of sociobiology! ( SHOW SIGN ) Let the show begin!

 

( BOY EXITS )( GIRL ENTERS )

 

GIRL: Hi! Have you ever noticed that animals, like Rusty here....

 

RUSTY: Hi kids!

 

GIRL: ...Seem almost human sometimes. Animals can seem generous, cooperative, and very affectionate. ( RUSTY NUZZLES AND LICKS GIRL SEVERAL TIMES ON FACE ) Stop that, Rusty! Now where was I? Oh, yes. Why do animals behave this way and how is our behavior different from theirs? Scientists have long puzzled over these questions and now there's a new field of study called sociobiology which is trying to answer them.

 

RUSTY: They've barely scratched the surface. Eventually we animals intend to take over the world!

 

GIRL: Shhhhh! Let me finish! As I was saying, sociobiologists not only study animals' biological functions, but their social lives as well, such as how they form groups and cooperate.

 

RUSTY: Sounds like a complete invasion of privacy if you ask me.

 

GIRL: Rusty, I'm tired of you interrupting me! Either go away or I'll get a muzzle!

 

RUSTY: I'm going.

( RUSTY LEAVES )

 

GIRL: That's the end of that. Anyway kids, sociobiologists have a paticular point of view about animal social life. Whether they study ants or elephants, they believe that everything an animal does in it's social life serves a purpose for survival. Otherwise natural selection would've eliminated the behavior a long time ago. ( SOUNDS OF BARKING DOG OFFSTAGE ) What's all that noise?

 

BOY: I think Rusty's mad because you wouldn't let him talk. Maybe you should go apologize.

 

GIRL: Oh, alright! Why don't you pick up where I left off.

( GIRL EXITS )

 

BOY: O.K. Sociobiology was a word coined in the late 1970's, but the roots of the science goes back over one hundred years to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Although people in his time knew very little about heredity, they were aware that parents passed their traits on to their kids. There, Darwin reasoned, the traits carried by poor competitors would be eliminated since those animals wouldn't survive to produce offspring. The traits carried on by the survivors would be passed on and become more pronounced with time. Darwin's theory emphasized the role of competition in animal life, but there is striking evidence that animals cooperate and even risk their lives for one another. Well, I guess that about wraps it up for this show.....

( GIRL ENTERS )

 

GIRL: Wait a minute! You forgot to tell the kids the adaptive advantages of sociobiology!

 

BOY: Oh! Well.....ummmm.......uhhhhh.......Maybe we should get an authority on the subject.

 

GIRL: I guess you're right, but who?

( DOG BEGINS TO BARK )

 

GIRL & BOY: Rusty!

( BOTH LEAVE )( RUSTY ENTERS )

 

RUSTY: Hi kids! You may remember me from earlier in the show. Now I'm back to tell you how sociobiology has helped my distant cousin, the dingo. ( SHOW PICTURE OF DINGO ) Dingos live in packs of up to forty and form highly cooperative groups. Males and females pair up to mate and the group is closely related creating a "family clan" atmosphere. They feed companions that are too old or ill to hunt and when prey is brought down the pups eat first. This causes the pack to seem to be something of a communal day-care center, with each member looking out for the others. Sociobiologists trace this kind of social life to the way my cousins provide food. they specialize in hunting animals which are swift or very large. This requires a high level of teamwork and the services of many members of the pack. They must be able to coordinate their actions during the hunt or else eveyone would go hungry. This example of sociobiology is what enable the dingos, my cousins, to survive and reproduce. Oops! I've talked a long time and the show's almost over! I have to leave! Bye kids!

( RUSTY EXITS )( BOY ENTERS )

 

BOY: Hey kids! I have a special surprise for you today....It's a guest speaker all the way from Earth's future! Let's give a round of applause to Mr. Bunny!

( BOY EXITS )( BUNNY? ENTERS )

 

MR. BUNNY: Hi kids! My name is Mr. Bunny and I'm the rabbit of the future all thanks to sociobiology with a little evoulution thrown in. After many centuries of cooperation and natual selection I'm at my peak in almost a million years. ( HAND STARTS PULLING PIECES OFF PUPPET )( ADLIB ) Hey! What are you doing? I have a contract! Stop that! Ouch, that hurts! Keep your hands off me! I'm calling my lawyer! I'll sue! Where's the ASPCA when you need them? ( AFTER THE PUPPET IS DEVOID OF FEATURES ) Alright, alright! I give up! I lied, kids! Nobody, not even scientists, know what animals like myself will look like in the distant future. They can only guess, as can we, what the future holds. So remember boys and girls, the future is what you make it!

( MR. BUNNY EXITS )( GIRL ENTERS )

 

GIRL: That's all the show we have for you today, kids, but stay tuned in next week when we explore the exciting world of fungus!

 

 

All poetry, stories, etc. ©2000 Miranda J. Hawkins. All rights reserved

 

 

 

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